rob mclennan has highlighted on his blog a new collection of essays on Al Purdy from U of Ottawa Press entitled The Ivory Thought: Essays on Al Purdy. It's one result of the 2006 conference on Purdy held at the same University. Other than the cover image (which makes me think that "the ivory thought" is not a swan, but instead some sort of rapidly-multiplying parasite), the price tag, and the fact that it's probably unavailable just about everywhere, it looks good.Speaking of good books being unavailable, I found out a few days ago that Magpie Magazines is closing. It's been ugly for independent booksellers in Vancouver for quite a while, and keeps getting uglier...and now the Drive is down to one bookstore offering new books...
Everything at Magpie is 50% off, though they've nearly been picked clean already. When neat things are no longer $38 they move pretty quickly, it seems.
2 comments:
Do you know the poem "Lament for the Dorsets"? The cover image suggests "the ivory thought" coming down through the centuries, through Purdy, to us. Or some of us, I guess.
Gerald Lynch
Gerald,
Yeah, that was my "not a swan" reference - tho obviously Purdy's referring to much more than the swan itself in the last lines.
It's a perfectly good ivory swan, of course, and a logical cover, given the title. I just think that at first glance you think "ringworm" not "ivory swan", no?
But if essays on Canadian poets didn't sell because of the cover image, we'd be in real trouble, eh. I'm sure it's still a heckuva book.
Rob
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